Help with Excursions

[magslram]

My husband and I are cruising on Equinox on 31/05/2015 from Barcelona and will be visiting Italy, Greece and Turkey. This is only our 2nd cruise (previous one with Royal Caribbean) so we are still a little wet behind the ears with regards to cruising. Was wondering if anyone could be of assistance with the following:-

- trying to decide if we should take cruise excursions (which some are a bit expensive, especially since there is quite a few we would like to do) or try and do them independently. On speaking to the travel agent they advised to do the cruise excursions as in the event of any delays Celebrity would be responsible for getting you back to the ship on time. We definitely would like to do one in Rome as the transfer time from port is approx 1 1/2 hrs and reading some reviews the traffic can be quite busy, can anyone make any recommendation for the Celerity excursions, or give any alternatives?

- our flight home is not until 5.10pm in the evening from Athens, so we have quite a long wait once we arrive in port (arrive at 7am). We are thinking of booking one of the Celebrity excursions which included airport transfers costing £86pp. Has anyone been on one of them, and are they worth it?

 

If anyone can give me any assistance it would be appreciated and no doubt I will think of other questions as time goes on. Many thanks. Magslram.

[az_tchr]

I would start by going to the roll call fro your ship as there will likely be lots of private tours described there organized by experienced travellers. Next I would go to Trip Advisor and look at each of your ports. For example Barcelona Day Tours offers tours in Barcelona and about 20 people have gotten together on out cruise to Barcelona and booked with them. Forming your own group is usually about 50% cheaper than the ship and you often can tour in a van instead of 50 people in a bus.

 

This will also educate you as to the attractions in each port that you might want to visit.

 

FWIW we only do a ships excursion when we think there might be a time issue in getting back to the ship or if we can find no other alternative. In most ports getting back to the ship is not any issue. There are also some ports when a hop on hop off bus would provide everything you need.

 

Istanbul for example only requires a 15 minute walk to get on the tram. It can take you to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the bazaar faster and easier that a bus trip.

[Kamloops50]

For someone who has never used private excursions . Stay with the ship ones.

[sippican]

I agree with the suggestions made by az_tchr. Become active on your roll call. We rarely take ship excursions, other than the reasons mentioned. From personal experience with both types of excursions, we prefer private excursions for a number of reasons: smaller group size (we do not like the large bus herding), ability to customize the day, higher quality tour, better price. Private tour companies stake the reputation of their business on getting participants back to the ship on time. One bad review on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor could do them in. FWIW, I do know of at least on ship-sponsored tour that was left behind at a port in Italy as we sailed away, so the real guarantee is not that they will get you back on time, but that they will be responsible for getting you back onboard ....eventually. Although I am sure it has happened, I do not know of a private excursion that has missed the ship, in fact, some offer the guarantee of getting you back on time.

Only you can guage your expectations and judge your own comfort level.

Edited March 13, 2016 by sippican

[Triship]

We have used ship tours but are now using another company which is http://www.cruisingexcursions.com/, they are based in Scotland and others have said how good they are.

[PROCRUISE]

I would start by going to the roll call fro your ship as there will likely be lots of private tours described there organized by experienced travellers. Next I would go to Trip Advisor and look at each of your ports. For example Barcelona Day Tours offers tours in Barcelona and about 20 people have gotten together on out cruise to Barcelona and booked with them. Forming your own group is usually about 50% cheaper than the ship and you often can tour in a van instead of 50 people in a bus.

 

This will also educate you as to the attractions in each port that you might want to visit.

 

FWIW we only do a ships excursion when we think there might be a time issue in getting back to the ship or if we can find no other alternative. In most ports getting back to the ship is not any issue. There are also some ports when a hop on hop off bus would provide everything you need.

 

Istanbul for example only requires a 15 minute walk to get on the tram. It can take you to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the bazaar faster and easier that a bus trip.

 

This is all excellent information! We used mostly private tours in Europe and Asia after hooking up with fellow passengers on roll calls and starting our own private tours with others who joined us.

 

On our upcoming NE/Canada cruise in September, we booked seven private tours, listed then on our CC roll call and they were filled immediately with just nice small groups of 6-10 people. We also booked two tours through Celebrity because they offered what we wanted and the prices were not out of sight.

 

Have fun planning and definitely check your roll call for your cruise to possibly find private tours that are looking for additional fellow passengers to join them. :)

Edited March 13, 2016 by PROCRUISE

[Desertbelle]

For someone who has never used private excursions . Stay with the ship ones.

Confusing advice since for everyone who has ever used a private excursion there was a first time. I think there are enough reviews on private excursions on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor to make a good decision.

 

As for last day excursions including an airport drop-off, we have done this several times and they are great, I highly recommend them. You get to see one last cool thing on your vacation (as opposed to sitting in an airport for 6+ hours) and you don't have to worry about your luggage or getting to the airport when you are done.

[kpd21880]

Hi! I'm Katie and I'm on your Med cruise! We have a great Roll Call going and lots of people have group excursions booked with open slots. Head over to the roll call and you'll see all the options. We just booked 2 weeks ago and I have been able to do most of the planning and organizing already with the help of the Roll Call. We've joined a few group tours, with substantial savings over what Celebrity is offering for their ship-sponsored excursions. Good luck & hope to see you there!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jono mono]

We also had a long time to wait at airport so took the ships excursion,it worked out fine especially as i used some OBC to pay for it ,got to airport with plenty of time.Good way to finish off holiday.

[justcrusn]

We were on an excursion once when the van had a flat tire miles from the ship, being on a ship sponsored excursion was a comfort as we waited for another van to show up.

I'd say a good plan might be to go private on your SECOND visit to a port.

[Desertbelle]

We were on an excursion once when the van had a flat tire miles from the ship, being on a ship sponsored excursion was a comfort as we waited for another van to show up.

I'd say a good plan might be to go private on your SECOND visit to a port.

We have also had a couple of issues on private excursions and they have quickly fixed and/or sent a new vehicle to pick us up....one time it was a boat in Grand Cayman. If you stick with reputable companies they have a very vested interest in maintaining their 5 star ratings!! No one wants to piss off a Cruise Critic member!! :D

[ECCruise]

We were on an excursion once when the van had a flat tire miles from the ship, being on a ship sponsored excursion was a comfort as we waited for another van to show up.

I'd say a good plan might be to go private on your SECOND visit to a port.

 

Don't quite understand that advice, sorry.

If there is a problem on a private excursion, it really won't matter if it is your first, your second or your fiftieth.

 

Rarely do ship excursions and never have in Europe. In Europe, about 70-80% of the time we rent a car but if a private excursion fits the bill, we will do it. The only places we do ship tours are Egypt and sometimes in Asia. We will also do a ship excursion if it is an "on your own" type deal (transportation only) and the price is reasonable.

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook...read up on your ports, THEN decide if it's a good DIY port or not. Most things are easy to do on your own, if you KNOW something about where you're visiting! If you don't want to do the research...pay the big bucks and book through the ship.

[sippican]

Get a guidebook...read up on your ports, THEN decide if it's a good DIY port or not. Most things are easy to do on your own, if you KNOW something about where you're visiting! If you don't want to do the research...pay the big bucks and book through the ship.

 

Seems like you've totally skipped right from a ship's excursion to DIY.

There is no need to do tons of research to book a private excursion. We've found a number of fantastic private tour guides/companies that have made excellent suggestions that we may not have thought of ourselves and tailored our experiences expertly to our needs and preferences, at a price lower than the cruiseline's.

This is a far different experience than when we set off on our own - truly DIY.

[ClaudiaB]

And seriously ------ go to the top of the page here and find the Roll Call. Some of our very favorite vacation days EVER have been with private excursions that we did with Cruise Critic members on our roll call.

 

These tour operators KNOW we have to be back on time and their entire livelihood and reputation depends upon it so if they're reputable just relax. If it's a comprehensive tour, rest assured that they will do the furthest locations first, in most cases. They'll also be more flexible. If they get somewhere and there are 4 large buses in the parking lot, they might go somewhere else and then go back.

 

You'll also likely only have 6-12 people. So getting on and off is quicker and there is more flexibility.

 

I have to say that I can see absolutely no reason why you have to use a ship's excursion if you're new to cruising or new to a port--------

 

I highly recommend Barcelona Day Tours as was mentioned before. They are basically the same company as Spain Day Tours. They usually have a driver and a separate guide who speaks nearly perfect English. (not always the case, even if the tour is excellent).

 

We sailed out of Barcelona in 2014 and spent 2-1/2 days ahead of time in that beautiful city and took about 3 tours, and then 5 more with Spain Day Tours on the rest of the cruise. The one that we did absolutely on our own was through Viator on-line. That was a great tour with 10 people at La Sagrada de Familia (the #1 thing to see in Barcelona). All we did was show up at an address and she took us there and we spent 3 hours, and then later we did more walking around on our own.

 

One thing that can happen with a private tour is that if the group wants to change mid-tour, it can. We've been on tours that were 5-7 hours long and we agreed to have the tour guide take us to a local lunch spot. We've bought their lunch and had a great time. When we were in Palma de Mallorca we had a fantastic lunch at an out-of-the-way tapas place in a neighborhood that the guide knew. None of us would have had a clue about this place. It was a hole in the wall but had great service, great music and oh my goodness the food was wonderful! So fun. You don't get that on a big bus load of ship's excursion people.

 

I hope your cruise is wonderful. Keep reading here and on your roll call.

 

Have a great time. You'll meet some wonderful people on your tours.

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He will tell you what there is to do/see in each port and how you can do it on your own. You might find you do not need an organized excursion. EM

[Keith1010]

I am one of those who do a mixture of things; ships excursion, private excursions and just walking around on our own.

 

Since you are new to cruising I would recommend going with ships excursions and also walking on your own in selected ports.

 

I would visit the Ports of Call Boards to read what others have done in the places you are gong.

 

Also consider picking up a copy of Rick Steeve's book on Europe.

 

Cruise Critic has a nice writeup on most ports that you can find here to get ideas.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/

 

With your information on what you would like to do you can then figure out what to do in each port.

 

One suggestion. With many port days doing full day excursions in each port can be tiring. Minimize full day excursions to only those that are very special. Do some half day excursions. And break some of the up so that some days you just walk around on your own.

 

Keith

[4774Papa]

We have done 14 cruises in the past five years, including three that included MED ports. Generally, we like to join or organize private tours or go DIY.

Some ports are easy DIY, such as Mykonos. which you can easily take in the city on your own or take a boat tour to Delos. Athens is an easy DIY taking the METRO, since the METRO is about 15 minute walk from the ship terminal. If you are flying out of Athens, combining a tour with airport transit might not be bad, depending on the price and what is in the tour. While in Athens, don't miss the new Acropolis Museum (especially the third floor).

 

For other ports, do some research on what private tours are available, or join some already organized on your roll call.

 

One thing to avoid is just trying to negotiate with taxi drivers at the cruise terminals, especially in Athens.

[ghstudio]

OP....if you would list your ports, we could perhaps help on those that you can easily do yourself, those where you want to hire your own guide, long excursions that aren't worth the trip (the Florence fly by, for example), etc.

[Viv0828]

We have cruised about 150 days and never taken a ship's excursion. Being on a bus with 50 other people is not our idea of a good time. We have been on maybe 10 private excursions with one or two other couples, but mostly we grab a cab at the port.

 

We do a lot of reading before we leave on the ports of call board and on trip advisor so we pretty much know what we want to see. We have rented cars on some of the less populated Caribbean islands but in Europe we prefer public transportation.

 

I suggest you do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited March 14, 2016 by Viv0828

[magslram]

OP....if you would list your ports, we could perhaps help on those that you can easily do yourself, those where you want to hire your own guide, long excursions that aren't worth the trip (the Florence fly by, for example), etc.

 

Hi would just like to thanks everyone with all their suggestions, looks as if 'roll call' would be a good solution (being new to this site I just have to try and find out how to use it). With reference to the quote above the places we will be visiting are:-

- Nice (Villefranche)

- Florence/Pisa (Livorno)

- Rome (Civitavecchia)

- Amalfi Coast (Salerno)

- Mykonos

- Santorini

- Ephesus (Kusadasi)

- Athens (Piraeus) fly home from here

 

Any suggestions on what ports are worth booking a excursion would be great.